Today, I'll be starting a new sub-series of articles here on "Random SMOOVEness." As most of you know, my hobby/second job/passion/addiction is salsa dancing. Salsa allows me to express my creative and, to a small extent, romantic side. However, there is a side of me that some of you may not know of. Despite my normally gentle and non-aggressive nature, I'm a huge fan of Mixed Martial Arts. I've been interested in various martial arts since I was just a kid, not to mention the fact that the sport and I share the same initials (my name is Myron Marquis Abernathy, in case you're wondering).
Not only do I love watching MMA, I love training in two of the martial arts that are predominantly used within the sport: Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I've been doing it off and on (a lot more off than on) for a few years now, but only with any type of consistency for the past 5 months or so. I've got a lot to learn in both disciplines, but I feel like I've been making a good bit of progress lately. Since I rarely write about this part of my life, and the fact that I conveniently chose "Random" as the premise for my blog anyway, I'll be taking you as my readers along on my MMA journey from time to time. In each entry, I'll be sharing with you all some not-so-random thoughts that I have during and shortly after my training sessions; somewhat of a "warrior's log" if you will. So, without further adieu, here's my first entry of "A Lover AND a Fighter."
Saturday
*****
- Had two 5 minute rounds of rolling (sparring) at the end of class. First round was against George, who was arguably the best guy in class. Probably not to far from the level of the instructor. I got tapped out via arm bar pretty quickly. I defended as well as I could, but dude is pretty darn good. I was pretty proud of myself for what happened for the remainder of the round. I got mounted, but was actually able to sweep him off me. He also took my back and went for a RNC (Rear-Naked Choke), but I was able to not just avoid getting tapped out, but escape as well. As I tucked my chin to avoid giving him my neck, I replayed in my head some advice that he'd given me in a previous class about surviving chokes. I made sure to time the holding of my breath with the pressure I felt from his arm, as good submission artists regulate their pressure, while inexperienced ones squeeze with all their might all at once and get tired. I didn't get any submissions on him, but it was a big confidence booster to have been put in such a compromising position by such a high-level guy and not tap.
- Speaking of confidence boosters, I was lucky to get paired up with the new guy in class on the second round. I was able to pull off 4 submissions on him, the most I'd had in any one class at that point. I was able to get two RNCs, a North-South choke and a Triangle Choke (one of my favorites). I took my success with a grain of salt, as this was dude's first class ever and he probably had no clue how to properly defend any of those submissions. However, I can't say it didn't feel good to make someone tap, especially that many times. I did take care to school him on what I did and how to better defend the moves next time. Someone did the same for me on my first (second, third, fourth, so on...) time, so far be it from me to not pass what little bit of knowledge I had on to him.
Tuesday
- I've been wanting to increase my cardio, so this was my third time in a few weeks going for two sessions in one day. First up was Muay Thai. Coach Chike had us do nothing but sparring the whole class. I hadn't had a good sparring session in Muay Thai in quite some time, and I was excited to do it again. However, I seemed to digress during the first round. I kept turning my head when attacked, which is something you never do. You need to see what's coming at you so that you can defend each attack appropriately, which you can't do if you're not looking at your opponent. Once I repented of my bad habit, things got better.
- Second round was against Jake, the head BJJ instructor on Saturdays. I felt a bit of "Aiight, let's get it!" mixed with a little "Oh snap...It's about to get REAL." Jake definitely kicked my butt, but I left that round with my head up, as I was a lot more aggressive against him than I had been against my instructors in the past. I landed some good shots, too. Not as many as him, but enough to let him know I wasn't a pushover.
- Maybe it was because we all were dog-tired at that point, but the next 4 rounds seemed to slow down for me. I was able to be a lot more calm and cerebral in my attacks. I felt like I was able to react appropriately instead of just aimlessly throwing strikes and haphazardly covering up when attacked.
- I've discovered that people respect my jab. It's fairly quick and stiff, and has a long range. (I have a 78" reach. I'm 5'11, but most guys with that long of a reach are upwards of 6'2"). I landed it a lot more than I expected to. I also realized that, more often than not, if I got hit, I was able to land a return jab just off the strength of my reach. One guy even told me that all he was worried about from me was my jab, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good in the sense that I know my jab is legit, but bad in that I wasn't making him fear any of my other strikes. Which leads me to my next point...
- Since my jab works so well, I need to learn how to use it to set other things up. I realized that I barely used my cross at all, mostly because I felt like it wouldn't land or even reach it's target for that matter. Somehow, I need to learn how to close the distance as I punch so that my opponent isn't already out of the range of my cross when I get ready to throw it. Until I nail that down, I've discovered I can follow up with a right leg kick with moderate success. I also saw that, once I get my jab established, I can land jabs to the body and left head/body hooks as well, since they're worried about taking one to the face. I need to develop some combos as well, instead of just being one or two shots and done.
- BJJ went pretty well that night. After learning how to put a guy int a crucifix from side control, I ended up rolling with a new guy again. It was his first time, but he had a wrestling background and was at least 10-15 lbs. heavier I think. I didn't get tapped out at all and was able to pull off two arm triangle chokes from within my own guard (and this was from only having seen it diagrammed in a BJJ book), a RNC, and a reverse triangle choke from side control (fast fwd to 5:00 in the video). However, I realized that I need to work on my mount. I was able to easily get a mount on him due to his lack of experience and my long, flexible legs, but I still have to work on using my weight and balance properly once I get there. I found that I'm getting swept out of my mount too easily. All things considered, I feel myself making some progress on my ground game.
